The past two decades have seen an expansion of early childhood services in Ireland and an increasing awareness of the educational and training needs of the growing profession of early childhood practitioners. The BA (Honours) in Early Childhood Care and Education is an applied course where the emphasis is on developing high standards of academic attainment in conjunction with work-based learning in supervised practice placements as well as providing students with the necessary managerial skills to set up and run a service. This approach is intended to assist students in obtaining the knowledge, values and skills required to generate high standards of fieldwork performance or engage in research or manage a facility.

Demand for pre-school education has been affected by changes in family structures, a commitment to equal opportunities and the demands of the labour market. Consequently there are increasing demands for qualified graduates in early childhood education in both the private and public sectors and at various levels such as Centre Leader/Manager, Curriculum Developer as well as work in Community Outreach, Early Intervention Specialist and Special Education. Graduates have also found employment in primary teaching having completed a postgraduate primary teaching qualification.